signal-cli.bash

Two Bash scripts aiming to make signal-cli convenient for interactive use.

signal-daemon

Starts signal-cli in daemon mode and creates notifications for incoming messages using notify-send. I only tested it with the dunst(1) notification daemon.

s

Sends messages and optionally a screenshot of a region or window. Screenshots are taken using maim(1) and slop(1). Requires that signal-cli is running in daemon mode (via signal-daemon or directly). Examples.

• Send messages to one recipient or a group:

  s alvin "Curiouser and curiouser!"
  s family Heh
  fortune -s | s alvin

• Send a message to multiple recipients:

  s alvin lukas "I summon entropy."

• Query for a region or window, take a screenshot, and send it and an optional message:

  s -s alvin "This message is optional."

Installation

1. Put the two scripts somewhere in your $PATH. For example ~/bin/:

   curl -fLo ~/bin/signal-daemon --create-dirs \
       https://raw.githubusercontent.com/meribold/signal-cli.bash/master/signal-daemon
   curl -fLo ~/bin/s --create-dirs \
       https://raw.githubusercontent.com/meribold/signal-cli.bash/master/s

2. Create a configuration file with your phone number and aliases for your contacts and groups at ~/.config/signal/init.bash. It should look something like this.

   # Path to the `signal-cli` executable, if the directory is not in "$PATH".
   # signal_cli="$HOME/signal-cli-0.5.6/bin/signal-cli"
   
   user='+990123456789'
   
   # Declare as associative arrays.
   declare -A contacts groups
   
   contacts['alvin']='+119876543210'
   contacts['tom']='+2201010101010'
   
   groups['family']='aiHo/b6oCiet+ah6makoh6=='
   groups['thundermonkey']='Zi0Eng2iHao8xiejaepahK=='